4 tips for managing employee vacations

Typically, granting vacation requests isn’t a problem for your operation; however, three employees stopped by your office Monday morning to share their excitement about upcoming summer vacation plans. You’re happy that they have finally decided to take some time away from the business of campus, until you notice they’re all requesting the same week in June. Now what?

At some point, two or more employees are going to want to take the same vacation days. If only one can go, how do you handle the conflict?

Some advance planning and expectations can make time off a bit easier to manage.

Consider the following tips to minimize problems for both those taking time off and those who cover during their absence.

Tip 1 - During the hiring and onboarding process, discuss peak work periods when vacation may be prohibited or restricted. Ensure you talk about conflicts with religious holidays or commitments the employee scheduled prior to beginning work in your operation.

Tip 2 - As a team, discuss how you will handle high demand vacation days.

Tip 3 - Establish a timeframe for submitting requests so that you can plan for how absences may impact work deadlines and customer service.

Tip 4 - Help coworkers arrange for the absence. Ensure those covering the workload know where to find relevant files and information. Try to allocate responsibilities among multiple employees so one person is not taking the bulk of the additional work.

And remember, regardless of how good you are at managing time off, there are still likely going to be times when the answer is “no.” While this won’t make you popular, it does come with the job.

LeadingEdition is an electronic newsletter for Purdue University supervisors. It is produced and distributed by Purdue University Human Resources four times annually. If you have questions, comments or suggestions relating to the newsletter, please call 49-41679 or email us. Thank you.